The Compass Project served 18 youth in the pilot year. Most of these young people were served because their family was at risk for homelessness. In 2013, the focus will shift from the delivery of case management services to the development of a comprehensive and coordinated network of providers, who will be aligned through a common understanding of the strengths and needs of these young people and will use a common model to engage them. The expectation is that Compass will serve between 100 and 150 young people during the year, with intensive case management being provided to 45 of them by LUK. The other key element of the project is housing, including emergency housing and transitional housing. The expectation is that Compass will continue to work with SMOC and Catholic Worker to provide emergency housing and with LUK, Abby's House and Worcester Community Housing Resources to provide transitional housing arrangements.

The pilot project for The Compass Project will work toward prevention of transition age homelessness through the use of intensive case management and the development of a coordinated system of care. The project plans to address the issue of transition age homelessness at the level of youth and families by providing supportive services; at the level of the community by developing a coordinated system of care to meet the needs of the youth and their families; and ensuring that successful changes are sustained through policy advocacy. The project will be based on the principles of positive youth development (PYD).

The goals of the project are: to identify ways to successfully stabilize the living situation of vulnerable youth and prevent them from becoming homeless; to develop a coordinated system of care to address the needs of these youth and their families; and to develop a policy agenda with the goal of decreasing the likelihood of transition age homelessness. The project will also work to provide employment training, work readiness skills and other life skills to the participants.

The Compass Project has as its ultimate goal the creation of a comprehensive and systemic approach to the problem of homelessness among transition age youth in Worcester. Recent local surveys have indicated that as many as 150 to 200 young people between the ages of 13 and 22 are homeless. During this planning grant year, LUK will work with the various agencies that serve transition age youth in Worcester to assess what is currently being done and to create a more effective model to address this problem.